My diet isn’t perfect, by many standards, but I thought, ‘What about God’s standards? What does my Heavenly Father say about eating and drinking according to Him? Does He say ‘no sugar’, ‘no dairy’ or ‘vegan?’ I’m not saying that it’s wrong or sinful to do any of those things, but how can I love my Heavenly Father in the way that I eat?

THANK you Jenn, Laura, and Arman for so consistently letting the foodie blogger tribe share their eats and collaborate on gazing at each other’s yummy eats every week. 🙂

I thought I would search the Scripture and share what it says about this issue of what my diet should look like, especially after recovery, because this question has been brewing in my head for a while. I’m thankful for the heavenly wisdom that God provides through His Word, even about matters of eating and drinking.

1 Corinthians 10:31, ‘So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.’

Isn’t it amazing that I often impose rules that aren’t in the Bible on myself about diet? The big overarching command? It is to glorify God, whether I eat or drink. It doesn’t talk about cookies or salad, but the main priority being the GLORY of our amazing God and Father.

Genesis 9:3, ‘Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.’ (This was after the fall and death came into the world.)

(The 2nd stage of Emilie’s Vegan Apple Pie Bars. She posted them yesterday. They looked so good that I wanted to try them right away. Needless to say I didn’t quite make mine as beautiful as hers, but they tasted DELICIOUS.)

Romans 14:1-4, ‘As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. …’

This one hits to the core of the gospel, of the SPIRIT, not just the letter of the law. It’s easy to justify myself when it comes to men’s standards, but God looks at the heart. We aren’t to judge others according to an external standard. We aren’t the judge. God is. God knows their hearts. God knows that one man can eat vegetables and not meat and that another can eat meat and vegetables, and it’s not loving or kind to my brother or sister to judge him or her in the way they eat. If I do, I’m ignoring the liberty that God gave Peter when He told Peter to eat those meats that they had previously considered unclean as a beautiful illustration of bringing the Gentiles into the church.

The story goes like this in Acts 10:9-16, ‘On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.’

Isn’t that an amazing pale reflection of the beauty of the Gentiles, who were not previously part of Israel, being brought in by the compassion and mercy of God?

There are so many other rich passages that are really convicting to me in the area of FOOD freedom.

1 Timothy 4:4-5, ‘For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.’

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Wow, EVERYTHING created by God was good. That’s definitely something I will be thinking about for the rest of the week.

Proverbs 15:17, ‘Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.’

Isn’t it amazing to think that God is so concerned with the heart of our eating, our worship, our lives. It’s much better to eat a simple dinner where there’s love than a HUGE feast with strife and hatred.

My final encouragement for my foodie, recovery, and blog readers is this verse from Eccleasiastes 9:7, ‘Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.’ God Almighty made that food. He sent His Son to redeem us from ever wanting to let it take first place in our life. He sent His Son Jesus so we could worship Him, not our bodies or food. And we can ENJOY Him in the food. We can enjoy Him in a cookie. We can enjoy Him when we eat a big salad, remembering that EVERY good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights, our Father.

So what did I eat yesterday? It was… pretty varied. Lately, I’ve been really trying to NOT be rushed about eating, even though the weeks around here are pretty crazy. I’m learning more about God’s faithfulness and great constant love despite me every day.

Lunch: Lunch was in 3 parts. This was part #2. The Almond Coconut Perfect Bar above was Lunch Part #1. I guess you could call me a hobbit. This was a pile of gluten free crackers, guacamole, HONEY roasted turkey, and tomatoes.

Dinner: It looks really odd, but it was cabbage salad (Mix from Costco) with chicken & potatoes that were cooking in the crockpot all day. THANK the Lord for crockpots. It was SO yummy.

A little more cabbage salad love… I think the mix is this one from Taylor Farms.

Dessert: Emilie’s Apple Pie Bars + Cookies n’ Cream Ice Cream (My Terrible Picture, but it still tasted really yummy) I need to find a better way of taking picture of dinner after natural light is gone. The light God makes naturally will always be the best for taking pictures.)

More eats from the week have included but were not limited to:

(Irish Soda Bread Egg/Bacon/Lettuce/Tomato Sandwiches… It was the perfect balance of sweet and savory.)

I love that Jenn started this link-up, because I think it is my favorite link-up of the week… Maybe it’s just because I love looking at all the food pictures and wishing I could cook like everybody else. 😀

‘When I don’t Eat Veggies.’ I know it’s an odd name especially because I’m linking up with lots of bloggers who love veggies… And I LOVE veggies too, but sometimes I just don’t get to them. Today was one of those days that I just barely squeaked by with a small plate of salad in my mouth.

Some days are just so busy that it’s just harder to stop and slice up some veggies for a salad. Not that it’s a good excuse, but I do know that I used to play the guilt-trip game if I missed my veggies, and it was never very helpful for me.

Those days I don’t eat very many veggies; it’s not that I don’t want to. However, today, I was shopping for about 6 or 7 hours, and so it was a quick tortilla, almond butter, honey, and some raisins that went into my mouth.

And… I may have consumed some fro-yo later in the day.

But, for me, now those days don’t define me, because I’m just fueling my body. I’m eating to live. It’s true that I wouldn’t go every day without vegetables, but I don’t stress about the days I don’t get vegetables, because I’m learning to trust in God instead of the the ups and downs of my diet.

God is good. Truly all the time, and even though I don’t deserve His goodness, I am so thankful for it! With that, here is another honest day of eats from the girl who normally doesn’t end the day without a giant salad. Today I did end it without one, and I don’t feel none the worse. 🙂

I started the day with OATMEAL at around 9 AM. It was good I filled up, because the rest of the day was so crazy, I managed to slip in a few more meals on the side. 🙂 The morning was also super drizzly and cloudy, so it was hands down, the perfect morning for a hot bowl of oats!

Lunch. Lunch was similarly themed with MORE almond butter, MORE honey, and more raisins on a tortilla. I wrapped it up, stacked it on the rest of my shopping ‘aids’ and trucked off to buy $1000+ worth of groceries for a conference I’m cooking for next week.

We may have stopped for a mid-afternoon snack of fro-yo… My creations always look kind of ugly because of very little color, but I promise you that the taste was anything but ugly.

(This photo looks very similar to, but wasn’t the photo of my fro-yo I had today.) Y’all, you HAVE to try toasted marshmallow frozen yogurt. It is so good… *yum*

Dinner is unpictured, but my sister blessed us all with a huge pot of fresh basil pesto pasta. If anyone has never had basil pesto pasta, you must try it now! If you don’t like basil you probably won’t like it, but fresh basil+parmesan+olive oil+garlic+nuts is a winning combination for a pasta sauce.

Right Side: I’m kind of a PB or AB&Honey kick lately along with chocolate chips or raisins… 😉

Food Find of the Week!

I finally picked up a jar of this at Sprouts after seeing it on the Yooper Girl’s blog and the Clean Eating Couple’s blog. . . And even though I plan to scoop into it tonight, I am about 99.99% sure that it will be a winner! PB&CO has not gone wrong, in my humble opinion, and per my own experience.

To cap it all off, I went for a short 2(ish) mile run tonight. It’s so freeing to run without feeling like you have to pound out a bunch of miles (for the sake of burning calories) or fueling an obsession. Tonight I just ran to decompress, think, and pray. And it was awesome. The clouds were just rolling out after a gorgeous rain storm, and this was my view!

And with that, I hope you have an amazing rest of the week!!! 🙂

Do you like veggies? (Maybe that’s a crazy question, but I know some people who don’t.)

Do you ever have days you don’t eat very many veggies? Do you feel like you need to make up for it or do you just move on.com?

The Life of the Writer

I live in the beautiful state of Colorado where 14ers are to give you all the sore legs you need, amazing skiing, plenty of other runners, glorious sunsets, majestic elk herds, and peaceful country roads with clear air.

Go Back in Time!

Go Back in Time!

I am a very ordinary girl. I’m 21, but if you met me, you wouldn’t believe me. I am passionate about girls finding true beauty in Christ. I love peanut butter, icecream, and salad. My hobbies are cooking, baking, sharing laughs and tears with others, and sharing the fullness of joy that Christ has put in me. I love reading other blogs, and I hope that this will be a place where you can find encouragement, recipes, smiles, and joy. Click here to read more about me...